The head of the Gaza police, Mahmud Salah, and his assistant, Hussam Shahwan, died this Thursday during one of the several airstrikes that the Israeli army has carried out on them, according to the Gaza Ministry of the Interior, led by Hamas. The number of deaths this day due to the Israeli attacks in the Strip ranges between fifty, according to various local media, and at least 75, according to the Efe agency.
The bombing in which the two top Hamas police officials fell occurred in the Al Mawasi district, an area located in the south of the Strip, designated as humanitarian by the Israeli army itself since the start of the war. Hamas health authorities reported that 11 people, including women and children, died in Al Mawasi, a tent-filled refugee camp.
In addition, the Israeli army targeted the southern town of Khan Younis, where six Palestinians died at the Interior Ministry headquarters. The Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza was also targeted by shelling. And Gaza City, the capital of the Palestinian enclave, located in the center of the Strip, also suffered several attacks. The Palestinian organization indicated in a statement: “With the murder of the director general of the police (…), the occupation continues its efforts to spread chaos and deepen the humanitarian suffering of the population.”
For his part, Philipe Lazzarini, director of (UNRWA, for its acronym in English), has declared through social networks that “no place is safe” in Gaza and that “no one has been safe since the war began in October of 2023″. Lazzarini also insisted that the attacks are “another reminder that there is no such thing as a humanitarian zone, much less a safe zone.” “Every day that passes without a ceasefire will bring more tragedy,” concluded the head of the agency.
which the Government accuses of “terrorism” and of being an ally of Hamas.
The number of victims in these 15 months of war amounts to more than 46,000 Palestinians. Most of the Strip’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced. A UN report indicates that from October 2023 until June 30, 500 health workers died. Meanwhile, attempts to reach a truce, promoted by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, have been in dry dock for several weeks. However, Israel and Hamas announced this Thursday the umpteenth attempt to resume negotiations on a ceasefire in the Strip in Doha, according to several local media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far resisted pressure from relatives of the hostages held by Hamas to sign a peace agreement with the Palestinian organization. Meanwhile, Hamas has managed to survive, and the death in Gaza of its military leader, considered the mastermind of the attacks of October 7, 2023. Hamas continues to fight, despite the devastating blows suffered by its great ally in Lebanon, .
